Kevin Dai touts freshmen election, campus events

Now that we are in our fourth week of school, things are starting to get settled down on campus. The weather is getting slightly cooler, classes are starting to get a bit harder, clubs and organizations have held some events, and freshmen have started to take off their “freshmen lanyards” that all of us upperclassmen secretly make fun of (I’m just kidding if you still happen to wear it). These four weeks have gone by so fast, and with the current pace of how everything is going, this year looks very promising.

On the topic of freshmen, the final elections for the freshmen class are Thursday! Be sure to go vote and educate yourself on each of the candidates. If you didn’t run but are interested in student government, look into the Student Senate committees. They work on projects that advance the student experience here at Rensselaer, so feel free to contact me (gm@rpi.edu) and we’ll see if we can find a project for you to get involved with.

Sorority and fraternity recruitment have both pretty much ended now, so congratulations to each of our chapters on a great recruitment season! I hope that all of you develop your new members into great brothers/sisters for your house, but more importantly, turn them into the future leaders on campus. Now that fraternity recruitment will be over this weekend, social events are now in full swing. Please remember to be safe if you are going out.

For those of you that went to Hockey Line, thank you for helping us keep this tradition alive! We had over 350 season tickets sold at the event and also free food, prizes, and skating. Last Tuesday was the first time I ever tried to skate, and man was it tough. Thanks to UPAC Sounds and Lights, Dominos, Sodexo, Resident Student Association, the Union Admins, Pep Band, the Athletic Department, and all the other people and groups that collaborated to make this a success. If you haven’t gotten your season tickets yet, it’s not too late! E-mail enas@rpi.edu if you’d like to get them.

Coming up next week is the 34th annual National Society of Black Engineers/Society of Professional Hispanic Engineers Career Fair! Whether you’re a career fair veteran or a student that hasn’t been to one yet, I encourage everyone to go. Even participating without bringing a resume is good practice for the “real thing.” When you’re looking for your internship or job sometime in the future, you’ll be glad you already had practice. Check out the Center for Career and Professional Development at http://www.rpi.edu/dept/cdc/ to see the guides and resources that they have to make sure that you have a successful career fair experience.

With the first round of tests coming up this week and next, you may find yourself flipping through textbook pages until 3 am, or trying to cram a bunch of information onto a small crib sheet. Try to hit the books earlier so that you can avoid these stressful moments if you think that it may happen to you. Good luck!